1. Technical Field
The disclosed embodiments relate to a method of shortening a rail car, and more specifically, to a method of shortening an end of a well car.
2. Related Art
Freight shipping containers are widely used to transport a variety of goods and products on ships, barges, railroads and over-the-highway vehicles. Container transport is very efficient since it minimizes labor costs, damage to goods and products and reduces the opportunities for pilferage and vandalism.
Containers come in different but standardized lengths. The lengths most widely used are 20, 35, 40, 45, 48, and 53 feet long. To the extent possible, the railroad cars which transport containers must be able to accommodate as many different container lengths as possible.
Well cars have a three to four foot wall along the sides and are built to a certain length according to the expected size of containers to be carried therein. The container fleet in the United States is quickly evolving into three basic sizes: 20 and 40 foot long international containers that arrive from overseas on ships and 53 feet long containers that are used domestically. The once common 45 foot and 48 foot containers are being replaced with 53 foot containers as they are retired or scrapped.
The majority of the current well car fleet includes 48 foot long wells that carry the 20 and 40 foot long international containers. Despite this, the limited track spaces at the ports where the container ships unload make the longer 48 foot wells inefficient. To handle the increased container traffic from both overseas and domestic sources, most new well cars will be 53 feet in length and the existing 48 foot fleet will continue to inefficiently carry the 20 and 40 foot long containers, if they are used at all. There is a need to retrofit existing 48 foot well cars to more efficiently carry the 20 and 40 foot international containers.